Summary
Mariana-Cecilia Velázquez is an interdisciplinary scholar specializing in early modern Spanish literature and culture, with a focus on piracy, colonialism, and imperial rivalries in the transatlantic world. Her research examines the fluid identities of pirates and corsairs and their role in shaping the legal, political and cultural dynamics of the Spanish Empire and its interactions with other European powers. By combining literary analysis, historical inquiry and cultural studies, Velázquez’s work highlights the value of interdisciplinary approaches to understanding the early modern world.
Velázquez’s scholarship aligns with broader trends in early modern studies that seek to reframe historical narratives and examine the complexities of power, identity and representation in the Spanish Empire and beyond.
Research interests
- Spanish Early Modern Culture and Literature
- Spanish Colonial Caribbean and Latin American Studies
- Theories of Empire
- Transatlantic Studies
- African American and Hispanic Diasporas
- Digital Humanities
Books
- Cultural Representations of Piracy: Travelers, Traders, and Traitors in England, Spain, and the Caribbean (1570-1604). London: Routledge, 2023
Articles
- Velázquez, M.C. “Wars of Words: Early Modern Piracy in the Caribbean.” Special Issue: Multiple Possible Wars, coordinated by Carolina Correia dos Santos and Agnese Codebo. Matraga 63 (forthcoming September 2024).
- Velázquez, M.C. “Difamación española de Sir Francis Drake y la criminalización inglesa de la calumnia (1585-1604).” Special Issue: La piratería y la imprenta, coordinated by Mariana-Cecilia Velázquez and Clayton McCarl. Bulletin for Spanish and Portuguese Historical Studies 48 (1): article 6, 2023.
- Velázquez, M.C. and Clayton McCarl. “Introducción: La piratería y la imprenta.” Special Issue: La piratería y la imprenta. Bulletin for Spanish and Portuguese Historical Studies 48 (1): article 5, 2023.
- Velázquez, M.C. “Sir Francis Drake’s Caribbean Raid and the Rhetoric of Blame (1585-86),” Revista Canadiense de Estudios Hispánicos 45 (2): 437-460, 2021.
- Velázquez, M.C. “Maritime Predation between the Lines: Charting the Insular Caribbean in the Sixteenth Century,” Canadian Journal of Latin American and Caribbean Studies/Revue Canadienne des ÉtudesLatino-Américaines et Caraïbes 45 (3): 400-429, 2020.
Courses taught
Graduate
- SPAN 733: Golden Age Spanish Literature
- SPAN 787: Early Modern Transatlantic Studies
- SPAN 792: Close Encounters in Early Modern Latin American Worlds
- SPAN 792: Enemies of 'Frenemies' in Late Medieval and Early Modern Iberian Worlds
- SPAN 684: Transatlantic Spanish-American Narratives
Undergraduate
- SPAN 484: Spanish-American Culture ‘In Short’: Textual and Visual Representations
- SPAN 442: Special Topics in Cultural Studies: Do It Yourself!
- SPAN 400: Service Learning in Spanish
- SPAN 355: Masterworks of Spanish American Literature until 1800
- SPAN 353: Masterworks of Spanish Peninsular Literature until 1700
- SPAN 350: Introduction to the Study of Hispanic Literature: Voices, Echoes, and Imaginaries
- SPAN 323: Chicano/US Latino Culture
- SPAN 322: Spanish American Culture and Civilization
- SPAN 321: In Transit: Spanish Culture and Civilization
- SPAN 309: Spanish Conversation
- SPAN 307: Writing for Spanish Heritage Speakers
- SPAN 227: Spanish for Heritage Speakers II
Education
- Ph.D., Latin American and Iberian Cultures, Columbia University, 2018
- M.A., Latin American and Iberian Cultures, 2012
- B.A., Comparative Literature, University of Puerto Rico, 2011